Annika's Amazing Croissants

For quite a few weeks, Annika has talked about wanting to make croissants. I cannot lie ... I basically LOVE the fact she wanted to take on croissants. 

The issue ... ok, not issue, exactly .... the important thing to keep in mind is croissants are not a quick baking project. It isn't like the "Hey, Mom? Can we make cookies?" type of request that we can basically do at the drop of a hat. Laminated dough takes time. The ingredients have to be assembled, the dough has to rise, and then it has to be rolled, folded, rolled, folded, rolled, folded, chilled for 30 minutes (and repeat two more times). Typically, I like to make croissants over the course of a weekend; the dough is made, rises, and has its three rounds of rolling/folding on day 1. It spends the night in its plastic wrap sleeping bag in the fridge, and then day 2 is when we cut/shape the croissants, let them rise in their sauna, and then we bake them. 

Annika did a fantastic job! She was careful with her measurements and paying attention to the details. She listened well as I explained why certain things are done. As she beat the butter in the mixer, she proved (once again) that she's my girl by exclaiming how much she loves the smell of butter.

Annika adding the dry ingredients to the mixer

I'd like to throw out a huge bit of praise for Annika. She has been out of her cast for a smidge over a week, and was already battling dough with a rolling pin. That's not an easy task with two fully-functioning arms, and there she was persevering (Eric!!!) with one arm that wasn't quite up for that sort of task yet. Yes, I did help roll out the dough when she needed some assistance, but even that impressed me... she was willing to recognize when a helping hand was in order. (That's something I still struggle with. "I do it b'self!")

Rollin', rollin', just keep rollin'

After our third round of rolling and folding, we wrapped up the dough in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for the night. Side note: I am SOOO glad I checked on the dough before I went to bed because it had enough carry-over heat that it continued to grow and it was HUUUUUGE! I knocked down the dough (TAKE THAT, dough) and put it back in the fridge ... with an extra layer of plastic around it just in case.

Sunday morning was rolling, cutting, shaping rising, baking, and (most importantly) EATING day!!!

We pulled out my marble slab (thank you to Eric's brother and sister-in-law for the heaviest-ever Christmas present!!), rolling pin, and croissant cutter (a special thanks to my brother and his co-worker for getting that amazing toy for me... still love it after all of these years!) and we got to work. After we rolled out the dough, I showed Annika how to use the croissant cutter, how to shape the rolls, and how we use a Hefty bag and bowl of hot water to create a croissant sauna.

Shaping the croissants

Annika and her croissant cutter super hero mask

Before long, the first batch of rolls was out of the oven (and that's when I realized we neglected to  put the egg wash on them ... whoops!) so I quickly brushed them with egg wash, popped 'em back in the oven and browned 'em up a bit more. Adapting is part of the baking game, people! :)

First batch out of the oven waiting for its forgotten egg wash

Annika with one of her finished croissants. SOOO yummy!!! 

Look at those flaky culinary masterpieces. Way to go, Annika!

Making something like croissants take a lot of patience and precision. Annika really showed how she's maturing by taking on a project like this. Sure, I had to encourage her to stick with it during the less exciting times here and there, but she really did a great job with this project. Very proud of our girl .... now I need to go ride our stationary bike 350,000 hours to work off the insane amount of croissant-shaped calories I've ingested since yesterday. 

Anatomy Lesson from Conor

This morning, I asked Conor to pick up the socks he left under the kitchen table last night. He crawled under the table and, on his way back up, he lightly bonked the back of his head on the lip of the table. 

I asked if he was OK and he replied, "Yup. I just bonked my back forehead a little. But I'm ok."

Back forehead ... huh.... that's not a term I recall from my human biology class in college. 😄

Another Project Done: A Dinosaur Pillowcase

In keeping with my "finish what I've started" theme for 2019, I FINALLY got myself into gear and finished another pillowcase.

I've had this fabric sitting there just waiting for me to take it from "fabric" to "pillowcase" for I don't even know how long. It was long enough ago for me to wash the fabric and lay it out flat so it didn't wrinkle and then stack up a bunch of other stuff on top of it ... causing it to wrinkle (oh Murphy and your darned law!)

After digging out the fabric from the pile of .... stuff (I'll choose polite language!), I ironed both pieces of fabric, reviewed my go-to pillowcase tutorial, and then got to work! (Unlike what is shown in the tutorial, I make my pillowcases with only 2 fabrics, foregoing the little one between the main fabric and the cuff.

This fabric makes me smile and Conor likes that one of the dinosaur phrases is "I'm fast" because, as he points out, he likes to run fast!  Other dinosaur phrases on the fabric are "I'm tall" (again, that fits Conor), "I'm hungry", "I'm spikey", "I'm big", and "Roarrrrrrrrr." The dinosaurs are just so stinkin' cute ... this project makes me happy through and through.

Another project moves to the "complete" category

She's Free!

This morning, 11 weeks to the day after breaking her arm, Annika's arm was officially freed from being in a cast.

Needless to say, we have one VERY happy girl. She graduated to a brace that she'll wear for the next 4 weeks. On an up note, she can take it off to bathe, sleep, and to do her PT stretches. (I'm also pretty excited that it can be washed ... unlike the casts!)

She received the green light to ease back in to participating in the activities she'd been banned from since breaking her arm. She can participate in Irish dance again (so long as she isn't risking tripping and falling) starting next week, and she can return to taking part in PE class at school in 2 more weeks (again, so long as it is safe/comfortable for her arm).

The orthopedics team members at Children's Hospital were incredible and we are grateful for their level of care throughout this entire process. That said, I hope they aren't offended when I say, "I hope we never have a reason to see you again!" 😄

Way to heal, Annika!! Just no more monkey bars, please!

One very excited girl!

Skinny little arm!

So much better than a cast

Conor's 9th Birthday

Yesterday, Conor celebrated his 9th birthday and proclaimed the day to be a hugely great day. 

One of the fundraisers at the kids' school is purchasing the message on the reader board for a week. Both kids asked for us to buy this so we could publicly wish them a happy birthday (Conor) and happy half birthday (Annika). 

The night before his big day, Conor and I baked chocolate mint cookies for his classroom treat. Conor toiled over which treat to bring as he thumbed through our Duff cookbook, but finally opted on a tried and true option that Conor knew he'd succeed at making and were quite tasty.

Conor awoke at 6:05 and proclaimed that he wasn't quite 9 years old  yet... he had few more minutes to go. Hello, Mr. Precise! True, he was born at 6:13 AM, but Eric and I were perfectly happy to still wish him a happy birthday and call him 9... even if we were 8 minutes early. Ha!

Because it was his birthday, Conor got to wear free dress to school. Bonus!! He also dug up the "Birthday Boy" pin that I bought a few years ago and insisted on wearing it all day. Hey, why not??

For his birthday dinner, Conor requested pasta carbonara and grasshopper pie for dessert. (I threw in some green beans as a side dish during dinner, just to round out things a bit.)  I'm pretty sure this is the third year in a row that he picked carbonara and grasshopper pie as his birthday meal. The boy knows what he likes!

Speaking of things that he likes ... he likes opening presents!! He received some very generous gifts from our extended family members (thanks, all!) and loved every moment of unwrapping them. After the paper finished flying, he and Eric got to work assembling the Lego robot that we gave to him. (I'm not sure who had more fun with it, if I'm being completely honest!) It was really fun to hear their conversations while building the ever-evolving robot, not to mention their reactions to the robot's abilities as its skills developed with each new task/set of instructions provided by the kit. 

To everyone who has had a hand in this little guy's life so far, thank you for your love, support, and energy. He's a silly, busy, inquisitive, and imaginative little guy and we are excited to see where this next year takes him. 

Happy birthday, Conor!

Batman Fluxx card game and Hex bug

Cold hard cash, a Taco Time g/c, and a wallet, baby!!
(one $ for each year... clever!)

Woot woot! Remote control toys are awesome

Future scientist!

Lego Robot kit

Blowing out his candles

Do you think he'll let me take his birthday sign photos even when he's a grown up?
I sure hope so! :)

March Birthday Weekend on Whidbey

This past weekend, we made another trip up to Whidbey to celebrate the March birthday boys. And what a great weekend it was!!

On Saturday, we rose bright and early (much to Annika's chagrin) to catch the 8:30 ferry to the island. Honestly, Annika didn't complain much about getting up early on a Saturday (aside from a few groans of "its already time to wake up???" because it was for her that we had to get there by a certain time. Eric's mom had offered to take Annika to an on-island needle felting class and Annika wanted to participate. During the class (which she loved), Annika learned how to make a needle felted bunny. After the the class and returning to the house, Annika proceeded to make a whole family of bunnies! (You know what they say about rabbits multiplying!)

Conor was curious about the felting process, so Annika very sweetly taught him the techniques she learned during her class. Both kids learned the hard way about aiming the felting needle ... multiple bandaged fingers this weekend!

While Annika and Bestmore were at their class, Conor, Eric, and Bestefar busied themselves on a secret project in the workshop. (I wasn't allowed out there because of the surprise element, so I busied myself making the lemon meringue pie for that evening's birthday festivities.)

Little did I know that the guys were busying themselves making a Canada good napkin holder for our kitchen table. Bestefar has a project book with the template and had the idea all sorted out before our arrival. Together, they cut out the wood pieces and set to assembling the final product. Eric used his dad's wood burning tool to outline the goose and Conor did all of the shading himself. (I'd like it pointed out I didn't hear a single report of anyone getting burned or hurt ... talk about a workshop win!) Conor even burned his name and the year on the inside of the napkin holder, making it extra special.

Our kids have been completely clueless about some plans that have been in the works for going on a year. When I say clueless, I mean NOT A CLUE. Eric's parents have decided to continue their incredibly generous tradition (that started with our two older nieces) of taking each grandchild on a trip to Europe for a week-long tour with the Tauck Bridges program. This weekend, the kids learned about their upcoming trips.

This summer, Bestemor and Bestefar will take Annika to Ireland and in a year or two, they'll take Conor to Italy. The kids were over the moon with excitement as we told them about the trips and all that they'll do. Annika will get to do her Irish dancing while in Ireland (HOLY MOLY), as well as sleep in a castle, learn how to make Irish jewelry, go on a treasure hunt in Dublin, take a train through the Irish countryside, take an Irish cooking class, and more!!

Yup! She's excited!

When Conor's trip rolls around, he'll take a gladiator class, tour the Roman Catacombs, see the Sistine Chapel, visit St. Peter's Basilica, go to Pompeii and a family farm (to learn about how olive oil and cheese are made), take a pizza-making class, and more.

Conor still processing all that he is hearing about his Italy trip

Needless to say, both kids are beyond excited for their upcoming adventures and can hardly wait until it is time to go. Conor had an extra bit of excitement when he realized he'll get the kids' summer nanny for himself for an entire week this summer while Annika is in Ireland. (They do love Miss Emma!) That's his bonus for having to wait longer for his trip. :)

As if learning about big trips wasn't enough, we had THREE birthdays to celebrate on Saturday. (I told you, this was one heck of a fun weekend!) Conor received a really neat present from Bestemor and Bestefar - Bloxels. It is a kit (of sorts) that helps kids learn about computer coding and how that ties in with video game creation. One of Conor's current future career goals is to be a video game builder, so this is perfect for him!

Eric received a new X-box video game controller. We seem to go through them a bit faster than anyone would hope or expect due to people who shall remain nameless (cough cough ... the kids) dropping them on the floor. I have a feeling Eric might keep this one under lock and key so he's the only one using it!

Bestefar received some really neat gluten-free flour called Einkorn and a baking book specifically tailored to use that kind of flour from Bestemor, a golf book from Annika and Conor, and a snow blower from Eric/me, Eric's brother/sister-in-law, Eric's sister/brother-in-law, and Bestemor. (Eric's dad shoveled their driveway during Snowmageddon 2019 and I decided that a snowblower was a better alternative... everyone else agreed!) Of course, this probably means we won't get any snow for a few years. HA!

The rest of the weekend was filled with playing card and dice games, catching up, playing with the dogs, lounging around, and just being together.

OH! Eric's dad and I got a little time together in the shop, too. It is always fun to build something in the shop with him because he's great at teaching what to do and why you do it a certain way. He even taught me how to confirm a measuring tape's accuracy ... something "many of those young construction guys don't know how to do". Now I'm feeling official! Because I haven't given the item we made away yet, I'll keep it as a bit of a secret for now. Shhhh....

RITUS 2019 Cookies

Each year at our kids' school, the 8th grade participates in a ritual called RITUS. (It used to be called Potlatch, but apparently a Catholic school using a Native American word ruffled some feathers outside of the school community ... hence the renaming.)

The 8th graders work for months to prepare for this ceremony, which in many ways provides them with the avenues to explore who they want to become as they evolve into adults. They learn how to drum, memorize poetry and prose, learn songs, make masks that represent their inner selves, and more. They talk about shared memories from each year at the school ... often evoking tears and laughter from all involved. It is a moving experience to watch; I promise you that I'll be a puddle on the ground when our kids are 8th graders and participate in their own RITUS ceremonies.

For the past 5 (I think) years, I've made personalized cookies for the 8th graders. They are supposed to be a surprise for the kids, but Annika informed me (in no uncertain terms) that "Mom... EVERYONE knows about the cookies. It is NOT a surprise. At. All." Well, then.... OK.

In years past, I was asked to make cookies that showed the animal totem each student chose. Let me tell you, that was no small task. Last year, with the renaming of the ceremony, the approach to the cookies changed and I was asked to make crosses for the kids instead. WAY easier. This year, I did a blue/green filigree pattern with their names (21 in all) decorated with gold luster dust. In all honesty, I didn't put much thought into the specifics of the actual design until right before I needed to do it, and would have chosen to do the filigree in silver, but didn't have any silver luster dust. Hence, green/blue filigree.

They sort of ended up with an old-world feel to me, and I like that. Happy? Yeah, I'm happy. I was THRILLED when I delivered them to the school and didn't break any en route. (It's the small things sometimes!)